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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24660262">The Contingency: Outtakes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbyssalGuardian/pseuds/AbyssalGuardian'>AbyssalGuardian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Contingency And Its Various Outtakes [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrien salt, Alya Salt, Don’t Like Don’t Read, Lila salt, MariBat, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:27:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,699</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24660262</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbyssalGuardian/pseuds/AbyssalGuardian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Short snippets from the same universe as my fic The Contingency.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tim Drake/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Contingency And Its Various Outtakes [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783015</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>194</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>966</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>miraculous ladybug stories</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Pregnancy Reaction: The Batfam</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This first one is the batfam reacting to timinette pregnancy.</p><p>Most of these will probably be pretty short.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The trolling began the day after Marie told him she was pregnant. First, they invited Alfred over to get him onboard. When he heard about the pregnancy he had looked <em>extremely</em> happy. Tim could’ve sworn he saw tears in his eyes. Once he’d congratulated them Alfred agreed to play ignorant.</p>
<p>Step one complete.</p>
<p>Next they had to drop little hints about Marie being unwell, which Tim got to do most of. As he played concerned over Marie’s health, the rest of the family slowly became concerned. Once they were sufficiently concerned, Tim made a big show out of having to take Marie to the doctor for a checkup. In actuality they went to the hospital for her first ultrasound. They needed a picture for the next part of the plan.</p>
<p>A few days later, they called for a family meeting. Sitting together with their hands clasped together, the ultrasound picture securely hidden on Marie’s lap, they looked uncharacteristically serious and worried. This made the bats nervous.</p>
<p>“So, as you know I had to go to the doctor recently, and, well. We have some news.” Marie’s words only sparked more worry.</p>
<p>“What is it? Is something wrong?”</p>
<p>She and Tim exchanged a nervous glance. “You could say that.”</p>
<p>Dick had come closer in his worry, so when Marie offered up the “doctor’s report” he was the first one to grab it and turn it over.</p>
<p>“Oh my god. Oh my god! No way! Really?!” He kept glancing between the paper and the couple frantically, excitement only growing at their nods of confirmation.</p>
<p>Dick ran over to Bruce and shoved the ultrasound picture in his face. Bruce caught it and gave it a glance, pausing to take another look and continuing to stare. The rest of the bats gathered behind to look at it, all of them reacting in some form of surprise.</p>
<p>“You fucking trolls. Couldn’t just outright <em>tell</em> us that B over here is gonna be a grandpa. Oh no. You’ve gotta make us think something is <em>wrong</em>.”</p>
<p>“While we appreciate the snark Jason, we have to get our entertainment somewhere.”</p>
<p>“Tt. What a waste of time.”</p>
<p>“I think you broke him.”</p>
<p>“Nah,” Dick said, looking at Bruce. “He’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>Despite this, Bruce remained frozen, staring at the ultrasound picture for a while longer. “I suppose congratulations are in order. If this is how you told us, how are you going to tell Gotham?”</p>
<p>The only answer he received was a pair of smirks.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Twitter Excerpts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Some Twitter excerpts from the Contingency’s storyline.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some people wanted to see some Twitter Excerpts, so here they are. Fair warning. I don’t have a Twitter personally, so I don’t know wtf goes on there.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <strong>Come at me bRogues</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>@WEemployee473</em><br/>
<em>Guys. GUYS. The celestial couple came into the cafeteria today for the EXPRESS PURPOSE of cheering up the eldest Wayne. They’re?? So cute?? idek</em><br/>
<em>#sunshineprincesss</em><br/>
<em>#moonlightprince</em><br/>
<em>#celestialcouple</em><br/>
<em>#poordick</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>Sunshine Watch</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>@sunshine_spotter</em><br/>
<em>Our favorite sunshine girl was spotted visiting her prince today! WE employees were ecstatic to report that moonlight called her in to help out his bro Dick, who was stuck giving a tour to some bratty french class. Stay tuned for more sunshine sightings!</em><br/>
<em>#thankyouweemployees</em><br/>
<em>#sunshinewatch</em><br/>
<em>#sunshineprincess</em><br/>
<em>#moonlightprince</em><br/>
<em>#celestialcouple</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>I didn’t hear anything</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>@totallynoteavesdroppong</em><br/>
<em>So I’m having lunch in the cafeteria right? And suddenly this loud obnoxious french class comes in led by a miserable Dick Grayson. Well who should appear to cheer him up but our favorite #celestialcouple! It was adorable!</em><br/>
<em>#sunshineprincesss</em><br/>
<em>#moonlightprince</em><br/>
<em>#celestialcouple</em><br/>
<em>#poordick</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>Is there a problem officer?</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>@i_swear_it_wasn’t_me</em><br/>
<em>Sunshine Princess is so sweet? She brought our boi D Grayson a box of pastries and helped her prince cheer him up by trashing the class’s fashion sense.</em><br/>
<em>#celestialcouple</em><br/>
<em>#sunshineprincess</em><br/>
<em>#moonlightprince</em><br/>
<em>#thecouplethatjudgestogetherstaystogether</em><br/>
<em>#toocute</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>What happens at WE stays at WE</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>@WE_Internal_Affairs</em><br/>
<em>We’d just like to remind everyone that what happens at WE stays at WE. That includes (alleged) sightings of the celestial couple.</em><br/>
<em>#comeonguyswevetalkedaboutthis</em><br/>
<em>#cannotconfirmnordeny</em><br/>
<em>#keepitontheDL</em><br/>
<em>#wayneenterprises</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>Gothamite4Life</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>@gotham_born_and_bred</em><br/>
<em>Bro. I just heard some whiny italian claim to be our sunshine princess. WITH A STRAIGHT FACE. I’m ready to slap a bitch.</em><br/>
<em>#whosreadytoslapabitch?</em><br/>
<em>#falseprincess</em><br/>
<em>#deathtothepretender</em><br/>
<em>#sunshineprincess</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>GAOfficial</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>@gothamacademy</em><br/>
<em>So. The celestial couple is helping out with some french class at the academy and they just took over our student council. And apparently the art and tech departments. We were right guys! They could totally rule the world!</em><br/>
<em>#sunshineprincess</em><br/>
<em>#moonlightprince</em><br/>
<em>#celestialcouple</em><br/>
<em>#worlddominationisimminent</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>New phone, who dis?</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>@randomcitizen</em><br/>
<em>Bruh. The Ice Prince of Gotham just ANNIHILATED everyone but the celestial couple in a sword fighting event GA was hosting. They kinda scare me ngl.</em><br/>
<em>#iceprince</em><br/>
<em>#sunshineprincess</em><br/>
<em>#moonlightprince</em><br/>
<em>#celsetialcouple</em><br/>
<em>#gothamacademy</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>GAStudent145</strong>
  </em><br/>
<em>@babyrogue</em><br/>
<em>So the Waynes and our Sunshine Princess just completely #rekt everyone in a paintball tournament. They didn’t get hit once. Some of the teams straight up forfeited due to their sick intimidation factor. They looked way too happy about shooting everyone.</em><br/>
<em>#waynefam</em><br/>
<em>#sunshineprincess</em><br/>
<em>#celestialcouple</em><br/>
<em>#paintball</em><br/>
<em>#gothamacademy</em><br/>
<em>#theyscaremengl</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope they didn't suck. First chapter of the new fic should be out sometime tomorrow!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Trolling Gotham</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We see a bit of how timinette troll Gotham over Mari's pregnancy.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Trolling an entire city was a lot more fun than they thought it’d be. As they strategically allowed for sightings of Tim and Mari at the hospital to circulate, as well as pictures of Tim looking worried and Mari looking ill, many Gothamites were beginning to worry.</p>
<p>Any attempts to ask <em>any</em> member of the Wayne family about Mari’s health were met with worried frowns and claims of “no comment.” Which only served to rile up the public even more.</p>
<p>Then, Mari basically disappeared from the public eye. For around six whole months. And when she <em>did</em> return she looked pale and tired. Everyone was freaking out. Speculation ranged from cancer to some rare untreatable illness.</p>
<p>The chaos was appreciated. Even the bats found the situation funny. But if they kept it up there might end up being a riot on their hands, so it was decided that they would do an interview. With Lois Lane and Clark Kent. At Wayne Manor.</p>
<p>It started off normal, with questions about their business endeavors and relationship. Then they got to the health questions.</p>
<p>“So there have been some concerns over your health for a while now, are you ill as the people fear?” Lois asked of Mari.</p>
<p>Mari made sure to look confused. “I’m in perfect health. It just took me a while to recover, you know?”</p>
<p>“Recover from what, if I may ask?”</p>
<p>“Oh, childbirth.”</p>
<p>“...What? You were pregnant?”</p>
<p>“Well, yeah. That’s why I was in and out of the hospital for a while, for my checkups.”</p>
<p>“I see. And would we be able to know the name and gender of the child?”</p>
<p>Tim and Mari shared a glance, Tim being the one to speak. “No. We want to protect our child for as long as possible, so we won’t be introducing them to society for a few years yet.”</p>
<p>They wrapped up the interview after that, and when it aired... well, let’s just say a lot of people were simultaneously excited and bewildered. They may or may not have ended up overloading Twitter for a while.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A bit on the short side, but it's what I came up with. Hope it wasn't terrible.</p>
<p>On another note, the first chapter of the new fic is out, so feel free to check it out!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. CelestialCouple Revealed to Batfam</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The batfam find out that the people #celestialcouple refers to are none other than their troll couple Tim and Mari.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a short snippet of some of the batfam's reactions to finding out about the celestial couple being our favorite troll couple.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Right after the gala where Tim and Marie announced that they were engaged, his brothers found out that <em>they </em>were the ones people were referring to when they mentioned seeing the celestial couple, sunshine princess, or moonlight prince. Obviously, they were a bit shocked. Mentions of them had been all over Twitter for <em>months </em>and none of them had known besides maybe Alfred, but he knew everything, so that wasn't a surprise. </p>
<p>They only put it together after everyone, even some of the news companies, started freaking out about how the celestial couple had gotten engaged and announced it at the Wayne Gala. They were confused at first because only Tim and Marie had announced they were engaged. That's when everything started falling into place, Dick being the first one to realize as he was one of the more active Twitter users in the Wayne family.</p>
<p>"Hey, have you guys seen all the chatter about the celestial couple announcing their engagement at the gala the other night? I thought the only ones that announced their engagement were Timmy and Marie...WAIT!" He glanced around the room frantically, finally settling his gaze on the couple in question. "Are you two the celestial couple everyone's been talking about?!"</p>
<p>They exchanged a glance as the others started to join in on the speculation. Their silence seemed to indicate their agreement.</p>
<p>"No way. They aren't denying it. I've been seeing a bunch of stupid shit about the celestial couple all over my socials when I would bother to check, you're telling my that it was just you two being dinguses?"</p>
<p>"But the celestial couple have supposedly been together since before they started dating, Jay." Dick paused in realization. "Wait a minute. They've acted like they were married before they even began dating, they're <em>totally </em>the celestial couple! How could you keep this from us!?"</p>
<p>Tim and Marie just shrugged at the accusations, Tim finally declaring "to troll you idiots. Duh."</p>
<p>"Tt, it was rather obvious Grayson. Especially once you've spent any significant amount of time around them in public. People never stop gushing about how <em>cute </em>they are. It's disgusting."</p>
<p>"Wait, if the celestial couple really <em>is </em>you two, then all those weird-ass things they were seen doing have to be at lease somewhat true. <em>Please </em>tell me you didn't actually take over two of Gotham Academy's departments. Or try to fish for Killer Croc off the pier. Or get into a go-kart race with Harley and Ivy. All as <em>civilians.</em>"</p>
<p>"Uh, well..." they glanced at each other nervously. "We <em>totally </em>didn't do those things. And it wasn't just two departments. It was the whole school." They were gone before anybody could finish processing. They had some more chaos to cause after all. Plus they would need to come up with new ways to troll the batfam. Their reactions were just too good for them to be willing to leave them alone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Class Reaction to Timinette Wedding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just a short snip of the class's overall reaction to Mari and Tim getting married.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the pictures from Tim and Mari's wedding rolled out all the class could do was watch in envy. Marinette looked absolutely stunning, which was no real shocker. But she looked so <em>happy</em>. It had been so long since anyone from the old class had seen her legitimately happy that they almost couldn't remember it.</p>
<p>They had been horrible friends. Instead of standing by the one person who had always been there for them, they spurned her, turned their affections and appreciation towards a new girl that didn't even deserve it. And hadn't that been a shock. After everything that had happened in Gotham, Lila and Alya had been sued by the Wayne family, and to avoid further ramifications Lila had outright admitted that she'd lied about <em>everything</em>.</p>
<p>Marinette had never bullied Lila. It had been the opposite. And they had been too absorbed in Lila's grand stories to see where the proof really pointed.</p>
<p>Now, as they looked at pictures of a Marinette that was clearly happy and in love, they felt nothing but regret. <em>They</em> had been instrumental in turning her parents against her.  <em>They</em> had pushed her to leave. And they had been too stubborn to see the signs that were clear in hindsight. She'd been preparing to leave for <em>months</em> and none of them noticed. Too sure in their false accusations to deign to even talk to her aside from when they wanted or needed something.</p>
<p>Looking back, it was clear that she'd left Lila alone before they'd even properly begun pushing her into being an outcast. All the other classes had looked at them like they were crazy, had in fact <em>asked</em> them if they were crazy. It was clear they must've been at least a little if they thought that <em>Marinette</em> of all people would actually bully someone after years of being bullied herself.</p>
<p>Too little too late. She had cut them out of her life and was better off for it.</p>
<p>They could only look on with longing as their everyday Ladybug was married, knowing they'd never again have the privilege of interacting with her. She had the life Lila had claimed to live, and Lila was green with envy for it. Nobody paid attention to her anymore, and after learning that Adrien had known her location and never said anything, he'd been socially outcasted along with her.</p>
<p>They should've listened to Marinette when they had the chance.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It may be short but it's something. Hope it was okay. With my focus on <em>Pixie of Gotham</em> these probably won't get updated too regularly, but I might post something here and there.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Tom and Sabine: The Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A peek into how Tom and Sabine feel about what went down in <em>The Contingency.</em></p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one is really short, but at least I got it out.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After they'd been scared away from pursuing their daughter by <em>the</em> Bruce Wayne, they'd had no choice but to return to their bakery in defeat. They had been <em>so sure</em> that their baby had missed them, that she'd left due to a small misunderstanding they could easily patch over.</p>
<p>News of her engagement, and her use of a new name, proved otherwise.</p>
<p>Seeing her on TV looking so happy and carefree, surrounded by people that obviously cared about her, made them begin to question everything they thought they knew about their daughter. The news that Lila had been lying the entire time, and they'd lost faith in Marinette for no reason was heartbreaking. They couldn't believe they hadn't even bothered to hear her out before they decided that if people were complaining about her, she was obviously in the wrong.</p>
<p>They had been terrible parents. Every time they saw her with her fiancé, and eventually her husband, they were once again forced to face the fact that she'd messed up. They weren't invited to the wedding. Forced to live with the fact that they weren't there to help her plan and prepare, that they weren't the ones who'd gotten to walk her down the aisle. And it was all their fault. They had no one else to blame.</p>
<p>As the years passed, the loss of their daughter wore on them, even more so after the health scare that resulted from her pregnancy. They knew they'd never be able to meet their grandchildren.</p>
<p>They'd lost the right to be part of her life, all because they had decided not to believe their baby over a group of entitled students that hadn't hung out with their daughter for months before suddenly all they had were complaints. And it was all their fault. They'd contributed to Marinette's suffering, and they had only realized it too late for it to be rectified.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you don't mind the short uploads, though this is a story of snippets, so short makes sense. Hope you liked it, I know a lot of you wanted to see what happened with Mari's parents after <em>The Contingency.</em></p>
<p>On another note, would you guys be interested in a Q&amp;A as a chapter for this? I'd be happy to answer questions if you have them. Let me know what you think!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Gina Finds Out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Gina comes back to Paris and discovers that Mari ran away years ago.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Short, but I felt like it was time to add something to this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Gina finally rolled back into Paris after spending years abroad, she was looking forward to finally seeing her adorable granddaughter. The last time she'd seen her was when she'd been akumatized into Befana, and she was excited to see her adorable little fairy once again. Only, when she visited the bakery her son seemed nervous.</p>
<p>She looked around, suspicious at her son's nervousness. "Where is Marinetta? I've been hoping to see her after so long."</p>
<p>He seemed even more nervous when she asked, and he hesitated for a minute before responding. "Um, about that... She ran away from home a few years ago."</p>
<p>Gina stared him down, trying to understand the absurdity of that answer. "And <em>why</em> would my precious little fairy do this, hm?" There was a dangerous edge to her tone.</p>
<p>"We, uh, Sabine and I didn't trust her when her classmates complained about her behavior to us, and we tried to punish her without hearing her out..." He trailed off when he noticed the mounting anger on Gina's face.</p>
<p>"Why didn't you tell me?!" Poor little Marinetta, she must be so alone." She was already thinking about how she'd track her down, who she'd need to talk to, where she would've gone.</p>
<p>Tom seemed <em>extremely</em> reluctant to continue their conversation. "Actually, she- she got married recently. To Tim Drake-Wayne. When she left she went to Gotham."</p>
<p>She glared at him. "Does Roland know how stupid you've been? Bah! Of course he doesn't know! He never leaves the house! How badly did you hurt little Marinetta that she wouldn't reach out to her own family?"</p>
<p>"We did our best to raise her properly!"</p>
<p>"But did you do your best to raise her lovingly?"</p>
<p>They had no answer to that. Gina left the store in disgust, heading over to Roland's to kidnap him. They had a granddaughter to apologize to. She couldn't believe Tom and Sabine had been stupid enough to trust others over their own child. Especially those rotten children Marinetta called classmates. Even Gina, upon only meeting them once, could tell that those children were nothing good. It was no surprise her granddaughter would want to leave. Why would she have stayed in such a terrible place with terrible, opportunistic people around?</p>
<p>At least in Gotham people didn't pretend to be kind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked it! Updates will be slow with <em>Pixie of Gotham</em> in progress, but they will continue when I can find the time and inspiration.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Disappearance Reactions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Some basic reactions to Mari's disappearance.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's been a while since I've done one of these, so I hope you like it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bustier's announcement made everyone freeze. How could it be possible that Marinette was gone, missing? She had always been there, there was no way she could've disappeared without them noticing, yet she did. The classroom erupted into chaos as people denied what they'd been told, shouting to be heard as they panicked. If Marinette wasn't there anymore, who would they turn to when they had problems? Who would go out of their way to make their day better, stand up for them and talk them down to make sure they weren't akumatized? Nobody else in the class could possibly take over for Marinette, not even Lila, and they all knew it.</p>
<p>They were distracted from their spiraling panic as Lila burst into loud, almost suspiciously-timed tears. "I'm so sorry you guys! This must be all <em>my</em> fault! I know she didn't like me, but I never thought she would run away just because you guys sided with me over her," Lila's sobs were loud, her gestures dramatic as she captured the attention of the class. She herself was overjoyed by the disappearance. If Marinette was gone, then Lila no longer had any competition, no longer had anyone to speak against her, and she reveled in her presumed victory.</p>
<p>As the class rushed to surround Lila and offer words of comfort, there were a few that merely remained in their seats and hung their heads in shame. These were the ones that had been hesitant to outcast Mari when they had no evidence besides Lila's word, but they had never done anything to help her. They felt that if they had just helped her like they thought they should've she would still be around. If they hadn't feared that <em>they</em> would be the next target for social isolation then they would've helped, but their fear prevented them.</p>
<p>Adrien was predominantly confused. He couldn't fathom why Marinette would ever want to run away. As far as he was concerned, she had it easy. If she'd been able to deal with Chloe of all people she should've been able to manage Lila. It wasn't <em>his</em> fault Marinette hadn't taken his advice and lain low. She'd made herself a target by trying to expose Lila to their classmates, and now she'd left Adrien all alone to deal with the clingy Italian all by himself. He thought she was more considerate than that, but evidently he was wrong. He would make sure to find her and bring her back; she would be able to fix things.</p>
<p>Alya was torn between being furious and being concerned. On the one hand, Marinette, the girl she'd considered to be her best friend, had up and left without warning. On the other, nobody knew where she was, and she could be in danger. As she went to comfort Lila she eventually settled on anger. Lila had reported that Mari's behavior had been getting more and more deplorable as the days went by, and it irritated Alya to no end. Now Marinette decides to just up and vanish without telling anyone? Yeah, Alya took offense to that. At least Lila was actually a decent friend, something Marinette had been struggling with due to her unfounded hatred of the Italian. If Mari was expecting them to look for her, she would be sorely disappointed. Alya wasn't about to feed her attention seeking habits.</p>
<p>The Dupain-Chengs hadn't expected it. They'd thought that Marinette was just being dramatic, that she'd run off to a friend's or her grandfather's. They never imagined that they could possibly be <em>wrong.</em> It never crossed their minds that their daughter would possibly just up and run away. She'd given no indication that she would leave when they sent her up to her room as punishment for her poor behavior, but it was obvious she'd been planning it for at least a little while. All the information they found on her computer was essentially useless, chock full of dead ends with no indication as to her actual location. They couldn't even track her through her phone's GPS because she'd left it behind. They thought they'd raised her to be better, but it seemed that they were wrong. No wonder her classmates had been complaining about her poor behavior. It was clear Mari had been causing problems and was unwilling to face the consequences, but they were determined to find her. No matter where she'd gone, they wouldn't stop looking until they found her. There was no way they'd let her get away with her poor behavior, and if they had to track her down to punish her then so be it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kinda short, but it is what it is. For those that are interested and haven't seen them yet, I've written two other multi-chapter maribat fics. One is timinette and it's called <a href="/works/24659776/chapters/59585680"><em>Pixie of Gotham</em></a>. The other is dickinette and is called <a href="/works/25139446/chapters/60911776"><em>Birds of a Feather</em></a>. Feel free to check them out if you're interested!</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Deleted Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This was originally meant to be in the main fic, though I changed the story shortly after posting the first chapters and it didn’t fit. You’ll recognize parts of it that I used to supplement other chapters after the story adjustment.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you’re ready for a deleted scene that was left mostly unedited. I made an error and posted this under the Pixie outtakes, so some of you may have read it before I deleted it. </p><p>Thanks to those who pointed it out!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The deal was going a lot better than Mari had expected it would.</p><p>It was now a month after they had made the deal, and Tim had come to her seven times after being cut off by his family. Four of those times she gave him coffee. The other three she gave him her Insomnia Cure. She tricked him into drinking it each time, and he hadn’t been thrilled at first but when he awoke feeling refreshed he only complained a little.</p><p>She counted it as a victory.</p><p>She had completed about half of Tim’s new wardrobe, having dragged him out with her to look at fabric and have him take her to places he deemed safe for her to sit and get inspiration. He ended up spending a lot of time at her apartment as she worked. They bonded over their sleep deprivation, weird sense of humor, and love of trashing people’s terrible outfits.</p><p>She loved it when Tim came over, and judging by how often he stopped by so did he. The time they spent together over the course of that month drew them closer together, both of them basking in the other’s presence as they grew closer.</p><p>He was over so often that she gave him a key to the apartment so he could just walk in, though she did make sure that he still warned her when he wanted to come over.</p><p>Everything was going great. So of course something had to happen to throw them off.</p><p>One night, while Marinette was in the kitchen making a pot of her special coffee, there was a thud on her balcony. The balcony doors flew open to reveal Red Robin as he stumbled towards her, slouching against the counter.</p><p>“Oh coffee goddess please grant me some of your rejuvenating nectar so that I might continue to repel the fatigue that compels me to sleep.” His entreaty, while dramatic, was so very Tim that she was both shocked and worried. If he was so sleep deprived to reveal himself to her like this then he definitely needed to sleep.</p><p>She would’ve know it was him anyways because magic but still, it was the principle of the matter.</p><p>“Oh Timmy, you sleep-deprived dumbass. Why are you out on patrol if you’re so tired that you just revealed yourself to me on accident?” She took his face in her hands and stroked his cheeks with her thumbs while she waited for an answer.</p><p>“To spite Dick. And it’s not like you’re going to tell anyone, I trust you for a reason. Now please coffee dealer, brewer of the finest coffee I’ve ever tasted, may I have the nectar of the gods?” Even with the mask on his face she could make out his pleading expression.</p><p>Dammit. Why did he have to be so cute?</p><p>“Fine,” she sighed as she drew away from him, moving to prepare a thermos for him; she could’ve sworn she heard him whine when her hands left his face. It only took her a minute to get the thermos ready, though she had a condition for doing this. “But once you’re done with your patrol you have to come back here so I can give you an Insomnia Cure. Okay?”</p><p>He smiled softly as he took the offered thermos. “Of course, Marie. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”</p><p>And with that, he had disappeared back out her balcony doors.</p><p>She stared blankly at the balcony doors. Of course he was already a hero. Why wouldn’t he be? The thought made her sigh in exasperation, but she couldn’t deny that this would make things easier when she decided to tell him about her being a heroine in Paris.</p><p>Her phone dinged with a reminder:<br/>Check on the Paternal Betrayers’ progress with Nadja and enact Contingency 9c at opportune moment.</p><p>Oh shit, she thought, I almost forgot about that.</p><p>That was one more thing she had to deal with on top of the whole ‘Tim is Red Robin’ revelation. Fantastic.</p><p>/————————————————\</p><p>Tim returned a few hours later, though this time he came in through the front door in civvies rather than through the balcony in costume. Marie had already prepared a cup of Insomnia Cure for him, and so when he arrived she dragged him to the counter to make him drink it.</p><p>He had drank half of it before he realized that she wasn’t having any and looked more dead than he did, which he would not stand for.</p><p>If he had to sleep, so did she.</p><p>“Why aren’t you having any?” His question was casual, meant to lower her guard.</p><p>“Oh, well-“ it had worked. As soon as she let her guard down to give him an excuse as to why she was making him sleep without sleeping herself, he took a mouthful of Insomnia Cure into his mouth. While she babbled out her excuse he quickly tilted her chin up, held the back of her head, and kissed her.</p><p>In her shock he was able to easily pry her lips open to transfer the Insomnia Cure into her mouth, where she reflexively swallowed it. Seeing as she didn’t hit him or pull away he decided to take advantage of the situation to kiss her properly, tongue gently mapping out her mouth and coaxing hers into its’ own soft exploration. He didn’t draw back until she gently pressed her hands against his chest.</p><p>They were still intimately close, their arms wound around each other, breath softly puffing in each other’s space. The way she looked up at him, expression so soft and loving, even with the lingering shock, made his heart skip a beat.</p><p>“Tim,” she breathed out, “do you-?”</p><p>He instinctively knew what she was asking, and immediately went to reassure her. “Yeah, I do.” His tone was soft, as it always was for her. “Do you?”</p><p>“Yes,” she whispered into his chest. “But where does this leave us? What are we?” Marie sounded so nervously hopeful that his heart ached.</p><p>“Together. It leaves us together. Labels don’t matter.” The finality in his tone was enough for her to fully relax against him as she let out a soft sigh.</p><p>They both yawned suddenly, The IC kicking in and doing its’ job. </p><p>Marie glared up at him playfully. “I can’t believe the first time we kissed was so you could force me to sleep.”</p><p>He grinned smugly. “We sleep together or not at all. Insomniacs, unite!”</p><p>She giggled. “Alright Red,” she teased, “let’s go get ready for bed.”</p><p>They did as she suggested, getting ready together. Tim had wanted to keep his commission from her a secret until everything was finished, so all the clothes she had made for him so far were stores in one half of her walk-in closet. He already kept a toothbrush at her place for the times he had been forced into slumber.</p><p>Once they were both ready he dragged her over to the bed, coaxing her to lie down before climbing in after her. He pulled her into his arms, curling around her protectively as he buried his face in her hair, content to sleep as long as Marie was safe in his arms.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you liked the deleted chapter.</p><p>I’m still thinking about how to go about the Gina reunion, so while I don’t know when it’ll happen, it’ll get posted eventually.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don’t know when or if I’ll do more of these.</p><p>Let me know what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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